Write JavaScript like a pro

Style guides also known as coding conventions help improve code readability and provide a set of guidelines programmers abide by to make coding maintenance and production easier.

This is extremely important when working in teams or even for your practice. It makes your code easier to upscale, read and allows for easier collaboration.

These rules are not exclusive to JavaScript, you'll find every language has its own set of rules you should follow, and odds are you'll encounter a big chunk of the ones discussed in this article since they're known as best practices.

Declaring variables

Declare variables as local variables using let or const ~~we don't talk about var~~

Use camelCase for both variables and functions

let articleExample = "pretty nice example";
const secondExample = "another good example";

Make sure to use spaces around operators

Use two spaces for indentation

const stringToCheck = prompt("Enter word to check");

function checkPalindrome(stringToCheck) {
    const len = stringToCheck.length
    for(let i = 0; i < len / 2; i++) {
        if(stringToCheck[i] !== stringToCheck[len - 1 - i]) {
            return ("It's not a palindrome")
        }
    }
    return ("It's a palindrome")
}

checkPalindrome(stringToCheck);

Start every name with a letter, avoid numbers, hyphens or symbols

const normalVariableName = "";
const $wrongVariableName = "";

Put all your declarations at the top of each function or file
Make sure to initialize variables as you declare them to avoid undefined errors
```
let car = "Lexus";
```
- A variable can change the data type from an already set variable. Be careful.
```
let greeting = "Welcome";
greeting = 21; 
///this changes greeting to be a number when it was previously a string
```
  - The opposite can also happen and numbers can be converted into strings giving room to the not-a-number NaN error.

Objects and Arrays

Declare objects and arrays with const when you want to avoid accidental changes
Declare objects and arrays with let when you change the values within your code
Declare new empty values instead of newObjects()

        let string = "";
        let newArray = [];
        let newObject = {};
        let price = 0;
        let boolean = false;

Open the bracket on the same line you named your object
Use a colon between values and properties
Don't add a comma after the final value
Place the closing bracket in a new line, preferably on the same level as your opening bracket

        const doggo = {
            dogSize: "Medium",
            dogColor: "White",
            dogName: "Chloe",
            dogPaws: 4
        };

If you have few properties you can write your object in one line killer.

const doggo = { dogSize: "Medium", dogColor: "White", dogPaws: 4 };

Comparison

To compare use === over ==
=== compares both value and type
== converts to matching types before comparing values

        0 == "0" //true
        0 === "0" //false

That's all folks! Do you have any other conventions I missed? Make sure to leave a comment and let me know!

I hope you learned something new today and don't forget to connect with me.

See you on the next one!!

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Yuri's Notes

Yuri's Notes

Write JavaScript like a pro

Rip off the coding convention band-aid with this guide on the best JavaScript practices to write JavaScript like a pro

Table of contents

Declaring variables

Objects and Arrays

Comparison